Tis' the season for the college spring semester and yay for having 8am classes having no time to make breakfast! So I had to find a way to make sure I can eat in the morning.
A few weeks ago as I was looking at my up n' coming semester I was already trying to schedule my exercise routine and coordinate my meals especially my breakfast since I had many early morning classes. I was trying to find ways to save money since eating on campus can become very expensive, up $25 for 3 meals per day.
I was trying to find the perfect combination of fruit, protein, fiber and whole grains and banana nut bread hit the jack pot! I was trying to experiment with flax seed since it has a natural gelling when it wets allowing me to replace a recipe with 1C of olive oil to 1/2C olive oil and then 1/2C flax seed. Then I was experimenting with applesauce to give it more moisture. I went through a total of 3 trials to get to that final perfect recipe.
Trial 1:
Was a little dry and should have wet the flax seed to allow it to gel a little
Trial 2:
Was a disaster! I added too much applesauce and didn't add any eggs. I thought that applesauce and baking soda would let the bread rise…needless to say that was some dense dough!
Trial 3:
I must admit the phrase "third time's a charm", is really true! It was moist, tasty and above all nutrient dense. Instead of using olive oil I was able to use applesauce and flax seed just like I wanted. (Below is the recipe if you're interested!)
It was exciting having the chance to experiment on a recipe and trying to modify it to the way I wanted. Even though it took me three times to get there, it was worth it. Two slices of my banana nut bread along with my hard-boiled egg that I cooked the night before was a great breakfast that was easy to grab and go. I had my whole grains, fruit, protein and calcium from the skim milk that I had in my coffee. This also gave me the fuel needed to complete my 5-mile run workout in between my class. To help give you some idea's here is the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics website and if you look under their Eat Right Nutrition Tips they have eating on the run andpower up with breakfast idea's for your next "on the go meal. http://www.eatright.org/
Banana Nut Bread
Yields: 1 loaf
Pre-heat oven: 350'F
Time: 60-minutes
- 2 tablespoons Smart Balance, melted
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 medium mashed ripe bananas
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
- 3 Tbsp Flax Seed, lightly soaked in some water
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- About 2 Tbsp of honey to drizzle on top
Directions:
1. Take the 3 Tbsp of flax seed & run 2 Tbsp of water until it is moist & gel like
2. In a large bowl beat all wet ingredients with the flax seed now
3. In a separate bowl mix all dry ingredients
4. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients
5. Pour into a 9in x 5in loaf pan that has been coated with cooking spray and drizzle the honey on top.
6. Bake for about 60-minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean
Christa Petersen is currently a Dietetic Technician, Registered going to school full time at Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ on the road to becoming a Dietitian and applying for dietetic internships for the fall 2013. She is an outdoorsy person who can be found running, biking, walking, swimming, playing soccer or pursuing anything from pushing high intensity cardio-workouts all the way down to relaxing yoga. One of her favorite hobbies aside from working out is creating healthy recipes and cooking them! Just recently she created a blog named "Teaspoon of Delight" sharing with the public creative recipes, nutrition facts and journal articles to keep others on tract to leading a healthy lifestyle. She cannot wait to become a Registered Dietitian and share her passion with others as a full-time career!
